It is not only lightening that can cause a refrigerator or water heater to stop working, I travel with spare control boards, fuses, and other electrical components to keep those items working on the road or in the camp site. It takes very little voltage to piece the junctions of microchips. Sometime as little as four or five volts over their operating voltage can render them useless.
Great article Mike. Just out of curiosity, if this RV was a trailer with the landing gear down on the ground (no plastic blocks) would the tires and bearings still be at risk and might some of that electrical energy have been routed directly to the soil? If so, would that have mitigated some of the damage to the electronics.
Along the same line, we often boondock in our 5th wheel w/ solar (out in the open out west); would a near direct hit overpower the smart surge protector in that scenario also?
Wheel bearings could be damaged with or without plastic blocks as there is no guarantee any metal landing gear is going to conduct all electrical energy away and to ground. I suspect the damage in most cases would be so little it would take many miles before bearing surfaces started spalling. And even then, once a rough bearing was detected, there may be no evidence its failure was caused by lighting. Speaking as a retired equipment mechanic.
Would the power be protected if shutting off the main breaker if you can’t get to your pedestal to unplug it?
It is not only lightening that can cause a refrigerator or water heater to stop working, I travel with spare control boards, fuses, and other electrical components to keep those items working on the road or in the camp site. It takes very little voltage to piece the junctions of microchips. Sometime as little as four or five volts over their operating voltage can render them useless.
Great article Mike. Just out of curiosity, if this RV was a trailer with the landing gear down on the ground (no plastic blocks) would the tires and bearings still be at risk and might some of that electrical energy have been routed directly to the soil? If so, would that have mitigated some of the damage to the electronics.
Along the same line, we often boondock in our 5th wheel w/ solar (out in the open out west); would a near direct hit overpower the smart surge protector in that scenario also?
I have an extended article on that which I’ll publish next week.
Wheel bearings could be damaged with or without plastic blocks as there is no guarantee any metal landing gear is going to conduct all electrical energy away and to ground. I suspect the damage in most cases would be so little it would take many miles before bearing surfaces started spalling. And even then, once a rough bearing was detected, there may be no evidence its failure was caused by lighting. Speaking as a retired equipment mechanic.